Michigan Is One Of The Least Integrated States, Study Finds

A personal finance website named Wallethub has conducted a study in which they wanted to determine which states have made the most progress when it comes to race and integration.

Why a personal finance is conducting a study on race I do not know.

On their website and report they discussed their methodology as:

In order to determine the most racially integrated states and those that have achieved the most racial progress over time, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across four key dimensions: 1) Employment & Wealth, 2) Education 3) Social & Civic Engagement and 4) Health.

We evaluated those dimensions using 22 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of racial integration and progress.

This analysis compares only blacks and whites in light of racial tensions in recent years that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and the observance of the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who played a prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement to end segregation and discrimination against blacks.

We ranked the states and the District of Columbia based on two key measures:

Racial Integration – Determined by subtracting the values attributed to whites and blacks for a given metric, using only the most recent available data.

Racial Progress – Determined by subtracting the values attributed to whites and blacks for a given metric, using the oldest available data and the most recent. Based on the result, we calculated the percentage of progress for that specific metric in the analyzed period.

If in some states blacks scored as high as or better than whites on a given metric, all such states were awarded the maximum number of points.

Finally, we determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its total score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Employment & Wealth – Total Points: 40

Median Annual Income: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)

Labor-Force Participation Rate: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)

Unemployment Rate: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)

Homeownership Rate: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)

Poverty Rate: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)

Share of Executives: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)

Education – Total Points: 20

Share of Adults with at Least a High School Degree: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
Share of Adults with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
Standardized-Test Scores: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
Public High School Dropout Rate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

After applying the above criteria the great state of Michigan ranked near the bottom of the racial integration ranking, coming in at 46 out of 51 (they included the District of Columbia.

After applying the above criteria the great state of Michigan ranked near the bottom of the racial integration ranking, coming in at 46 out of 51 (they included the District of Columbia.

The only states that ranked worse than Michigan were the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Maine, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. I find it interesting and somewhat telling about this study that the great liberal state of Minnesota (the only state that did not vote for President Reagan in 1984) has a worse racial integration ranking than Michigan. I also find it interesting that the District of Columbia, which has a 47% population of black people and a 37% of white people came in dead last.

According to their study the following states topped their racial integration rankings starting with #1: New Mexico, West Virginia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Texas, Wyoming, Delaware, Arizona, Maryland and Georgia.

In some categories Michigan did fare better, but I must admit I am surprised at the ranking of Michigan and other states.

What does this tell us, not much. I just thought you might be interested in the results and want to do a deep dive into the study.